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David Hockney

David Hockney Quotes

Photographer

David Hockney is a renowned British photographer, born on July 9, 1937. His works are known for their unique perspective and color application, which have had a profound impact on the development of photographic art.

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All Thinking Art People Ifs Drawing Painting Photography Artist Cameras Wells Looks Mean Way World Bits Draws I Can Paint Knows Said

Famous David Hockney Quotes

“People from the village come up and tease me: 'We hear you've started drawing on your telephone.' And I tell them, 'Well, no, actually, it's just that occasionally I speak on my sketch pad,'”

People Wells Speak Come Up Drawing Village Telephones Tease Pads Tease Me

Author:David Hockney

“Loads of people, particularly artists, hate pretty pictures. Now I've never met anyone who didn't like a pretty face.”

People Faces Artist Hate Beauty Mets Load Pretty Face Pretty Picture

Author:David Hockney

“The only people who need degrees are dentists and brain surgeons.”

People Needs Brain Education Degrees Surgeons Dentist Brain Surgeons

Author:David Hockney

“It is difficult to say why I decided I wanted to be an artist. Obviously, I had some facility, more than other people, but sometimes facility comes because one is more interested in looking at things, examining them, more interested in the visual world than other people are.”

People World Sometimes Wanted Artist Difficult Decided Observation Visuals Facility Examining

Book:David Hockney

Source: David Hockney

“Faces are the most interesting things we see; other people fascinate me, and the most interesting aspect of other people - the point where we go inside them - is the face. It tells all.”

People Faces Interesting Aspect Most Interesting Interesting Things Portraiture

Book:David Hockney photographs

Source: David Hockney photographs

“It's a myth that if you're liked by only four people it must be good. It might also be very bad: they might be your mother, your brother, your uncle and your aunt.”

People Ifs Might Mother Four Brother Myth Be Good Uncles Aunt Your Brother

Author:David Hockney

“The choice is not between drugs and no drugs, but between illegal drugs and legal drugs. Until the 1920s drugs were legal, why not now? Lots of people are on drugs anyway - it is called medication.”

People Choices Drug Illegal Why Not Medication Illegal Drugs

Author:David Hockney

“What an artist is trying to do for people is bring them closer to something, because of course art is about sharing. You wouldn't be an artist unless you wanted to share an experience, a thought.”

People Trying Art Wanted Artist Courses Share Art Is

Author:David Hockney

“Being able to draw means being able to put things in believable space. People who don't draw very well can't do that.”

People Wells Mean Able Space Draws Believable

Author:David Hockney

“People criticized me for my photography. They said it's not art.”

People Art Said Photography They Said

Author:David Hockney

“A lot of people, given the chance, would blow up everything, and you and me.”

People Given Chance Blow Given A Chance

Author:David Hockney

“People tell me they open my e-mails first, because they aren't demands and you don't need to reply. They're simply for pleasure.”

People Needs Firsts Pleasure Demand Mail

Author:David Hockney

“I was aware that the teaching of drawing was being stopped almost 30 years ago. And I always said, 'The teaching of drawing is the teaching of looking.' A lot of people don't look very hard.”

People Years Looks Said Hard Teaching Years Ago Drawing

Author:David Hockney

“Shadows sometimes people don't see shadows. The Chinese of course never paint them in pictures, oriental art never deals with shadow. But I noticed these shadows and I knew it meant it was sunny.”

People Art Sometimes Courses Deals Shadow Paint Chinese Sunny Sunny Day

Author:David Hockney

“Cubism was an attack on the perspective that had been known and used for 500 years. It was the first big, big change. It confused people: they said, 'Things don't look like that!'”

People Years Firsts Looks Said Bigs Used Known Perspective Confused They Said Big Changes Cubism

Author:David Hockney

“I worked in the NHS as a hospital orderly during my national service, and people thought it was a noble service. But over the years it's lost its humanity.”

People Years Humanity Lost Noble Hospitals Orderly Nhs National Service

Author:David Hockney

“We don't all see the same way at all. Even if I'm sitting looking at you, there is always the memory of you as well. And a memory is now. So someone who's never met you before is seeing a different person. That's bound to be the case. We all see something different. I assume most people don't look very hard at anything.”

People Ifs Way Wells Looks Persons Different Hard Memories Cases Seeing Mets Sitting Assuming Bounds

Author:David Hockney

“I've always been a looker. Loads of people say, "I never saw that" - but that's what artists do.”

People Artist Saws Load

Author:David Hockney

“About shadows: do we see shadows? Loads of people don't. A camera will notice a shadow, but how many people have got a shadow in front of them when they take a picture and don't notice it, and then they see it in the photograph because the photograph will catch the shadow.”

People Fronts Shadow Cameras Photograph Load

Author:David Hockney

“The camera can't see space. It sees surfaces. People see space, which is much more interesting.”

People Space Interesting Cameras Surface

Author:David Hockney

“I think I’m greedy, but I’m not greedy for money – I think that can be a burden – I’m greedy for an exciting life. I want it to be exciting all the time, and I get it, actually. On the other hand, I can find excitement, I admit, in raindrops falling on a puddle and a lot of people wouldn’t. I intend to have it exciting until the day I fall over.”

People Thinking Want I Can Hands Fall Exciting Burden Excitement Greedy Raindrops Puddles Exciting Life

Author:David Hockney

“The moment you can learn to deal with homosexuality in art, it's quite an exciting moment, just as in a sense when people 'come out' it's quite an exciting moment. It means they become aware of their desires, and can deal with them in a remarkably honest way.”

People Way Mean Art Moments Desire Deals Honest Exciting Homosexuality

Author:David Hockney

“I can get excitement watching rain on a puddle. And then I paint it. Now, I admit, there are not too many people who would find that exciting. But I would. And I want life thrilling and rich. And it is. I make sure it is.”

People Want I Can Rich Rain Exciting Paint Excitement Thrilling Puddles

Author:David Hockney

“I've no doubt that those photographs i took will make people look at everything in a more interesting way - the little tear on one piece of paper, the shadow on another. But good painting has always done that - made you see things. And the most ordinary can be the most extraordinary.”

Source: Hockney on photography: conversations with Paul Joyce

“Teaching people to draw is teaching people to look”

People Looks Teaching Draws

Author:David Hockney

About the Author

Born: July 9, 1937
Known for: Photographer
Quotes: 227

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Thinking Art People Ifs Drawing Painting Photography Artist Cameras Wells Looks Mean Way World Bits Draws I Can Paint Knows Said

Popular Topics

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Books & Sources

David HockneyRelated source material

Hockney on photography: conversations with Paul JoyceRelated source material

True to life: twenty-five years of conversations with David HockneyRelated source material

David Hockney photographsRelated source material

Art & DesignRelated source material

David Hockney: a retrospectiveRelated source material

David Hockney: grafiekRelated source material

Portrait of David HockneyRelated source material

Travels with Pen, Pencil and InkRelated source material

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